BRITANNIA
A JOURNAL OF ROMANO-BRITISH AND KINDRED STUDIES
VOLUME 46 (2015)
CONTENTS
ARTICLES
Sheppard Sunderland Frere Historian and Archaeologist, 1–13
MARK REDKNAP, Observations on Roman Pottery from Pudding Pan and the Thames
Estuary and Early Surveys, 15–36
JOANNA BIRD, Two Rare Late Samian Vessels from Southern England, 37–54
RUTH SHAFFREY,
Intensive Milling Practices in the Romano-British Landscape of
Southern England: Using Newly Established Criteria for Distinguishing Millstones
from Rotary Querns, 55–92
MAGALI BAILLIOT, Roman Magic Figurines from the Western Provinces of the Roman
Empire: An Archaeological Survey, 93–110
MATTHEW G. FITTOCK, Broken Deities: The Pipe-Clay Figurines from Roman London,
111–134
ADAM PARKER, The Fist-and-Phallus Pendants from Roman Catterick, 135–149
MILES RUSSELL and HARRY MANLEY,
Trajan Places: Establishing Identity and
Context for the Bosham and Hawkshaw Heads, 151–169
MARTIN MILLETT and REBECCA GOWLAND, Infant and Child Burial Rites in Roman
Britain: A Study from East Yorkshire, 171–189
HELLA ECKARDT, GUNDULA MÜLDNER and GREG SPEED, The Late Roman Field
Army in Northern Britain? Mobility, Material Culture and Multi-Isotope Analysis at
Scorton (N Yorks.), 191–223
ADRIÁN MALDONADO, The Early Medieval Antonine Wall, 225–245
SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS
J.R.L. ALLEN, A Whetstone of Wealden Sandstone from the Roman Villa at Great Holts,
Farm, Boreham, Essex, 247–251
JOANNA BACON and NINA CRUMMY,
Bone- and Antler-Working at Silchester:
Evidence from Early Excavations, 251–262
MACARENA BUSTAMENTE ÁLVAREZ and JOANNA BIRD, Finds of Spanish Samian
Ware (Terra Sigillata Hispanica) from Britain, 262–266
JEFFREY L. DAVIES and TOBY G. DRIVER, Cefn-Brynich Farm: A New ClaudioNeronian Fort in the Usk Valley, Powys, Wales, 267–273
PETER WARRY,
A Possible Mid-Fourth-Century Altar Platform at Marcham/Frilford,
Oxfordshire, 273–279
ROMAN BRITAIN IN 2014
I Sites Explored by E.M. Chapman, F. Hunter, P. Wilson and P. Booth, 281–353
II Finds Reported under the Portable Antiquities Scheme by S. Worrell and J. Pearce, 355–
381
III Inscriptions by R.S.O. Tomlin, 383–420
REVIEWS
P.M. Allison, People and Spaces in Roman Military Bases (by Rob Collins), 421–422
D.J. Breeze, S. Jilek and A. Thiel (eds), Frontiers of the Roman Empire (by Matthew F.A.
Symonds), 422–424
P. Dyczek, The Lower Danube Limes in Bulgaria (by Matthew F.A. Symonds), 422–424
K. Harmadyová, J. Rajtar and J. Schmidtová, Slovakia (by Matthew F.A. Symonds), 422–
424
D.J. Breeze, The Antonine Wall (by Matthew F.A. Symonds), 422–424
S. Jilek, The Danube Limes: A Roman River Frontier (by Matthew F.A. Symonds), 422–424
Z. Visy, The Roman Limes in Hungary (by Matthew F.A. Symonds), 422–424
D.J. Breeze, Hadrian’s Wall (by Matthew F.A. Symonds), 422–424
D. Mattingly, A. Rushworth, M. Sterry and V. Leitch, The African Frontiers (by Matthew
F.A. Symonds), 422–424
W. Czysz, A. Faber, C. Flügel and C.S. Sommer, The Danube Limes in Bavaria (by Matthew
F.A. Symonds), 422–424
T. Brindle, The Portable Antiquities Scheme and Roman Britain (by Jude Plouviez), 424–
425
A. Bokern, M. Bolder-Boos, S. Krmnicek, D. Maschek and S. Page (eds), TRAC 2012:
Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology
Conference, Goethe University in Frankfurt, 29 March–1 April 2012 (by Cristina
Murer), 425–426
D. Boucher and T. Smith (eds), R G Collingwood: An Autobiography and Other Writings.
With Essays on Collingwood’s Life and Work (by Phil Freeman), 426–427
A. Bouet (ed.), Le Forum en Gaule et dans les régions voisines (by Michael J. Jones), 427–
429
C. Evans, with G. Appleby, S. Lucy and R. Regan, Process and History. Romano-British
Communities at Colne Fen, Earith: An Inland Port and Supply Farm (by Neil
Holbrook), 429–430
A. Gascoyne and D. Radford; P.J. Wise (ed.), Colchester: Fortress of the War God: An
Archaeological Assessment (by Patrick Ottaway), 430–431
J. Gerrard, The Ruin of Roman Britain: An Archaeological Perspective (by Simon Esmonde
Cleary), 431–432
M. Gleba and J. Pásztókai-Szeöke (eds), Making Textiles in Pre-Roman and Roman Times.
People, Places, Identities (by Glenys Davies), 432–433
P. Halkon, The Parisi: Britons and Romans in Eastern Yorkshire (by Steve Roskams), 433–
435
P. Ottaway, Roman Yorkshire: People, Culture and Landscape (by Steve Roskams), 433–
435
B. Hoffmann, The Roman Invasion of Britain: Archaeology Versus History (by Eberhard W.
Sauer), 435–436
D. Hopewell, Roman Roads in North-West Wales (by Barry C. Burnham), 436–437
I. Howell, with L. Blackmore, C. Philpotts and A. Thorp, Roman and Medieval Development
South of Cheapside. Excavations at Bow Bells House, City of London, 2005–6 (by
Michael Fulford), 437–438
R. Cowie, A. Thorp and A. Wardle, Roman Roadside Settlement and Rural Landscape at
Brentford. Archaeological Investigations at Hilton London Syon Park Hotel, 2004–10
(by Michael Fulford), 437–438
L. Casson, J. Drummond-Murray and A. Francis, Romano-British Round Houses to Medieval
Parish. Excavations at 10 Gresham Street, City of London, 1999–2002 (by Michael
Fulford), 437–438
V. Ridgeway, K. Leary and B. Sudds, Roman Burials in Southwark: Excavations at 52–56
Lant Street and 56 Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 (by Michael Fulford), 437–
438
D. Ingemark, Glass, Alcohol and Power in Roman Iron Age Scotland (by Thomas Grane),
438–439
M. Klee, Germania Superior: eine römische Provinz in Frankreich, Deutschland und der
Schweiz (by Birgitta Hoffmann), 439–440
D. Perring and M. Pitts, Alien Cities. Consumption and the Origins of Urbanism in Roman
Britain (by Michael Fulford), 441
G. Speed, Towns in the Dark? Urban Transformations from Late Roman to Anglo-Saxon
England (by James Gerrard), 442
S. Willis and P. Carne (eds), A Roman Villa at the Edge of Empire. Excavations at Ingleby
Barwick, Stockton-on-Tees, 2003–4 (by Alex Smith), 442–443
D. Wilson, A. Bagnall and B. Taylor, Report on the Excavation of a Romano-British Site in
Wortley, South Gloucestershire (by Peter Davenport), 443–444
BRITANNIA 2015 ABSTRACTS
Mark Redknap: Observations on Roman Pottery from Pudding Pan and the Thames
Estuary and Early Surveys
Previously unpublished Roman pottery from the Thames Estuary was studied by the author in
1985 and 1986 for the voluntary body Marine Archaeological Surveys (MAS) and is
presented as a contribution to wider initiatives on the Roman archaeology of this important
social and economic artery between South-East England and the wider world. The purpose of
this paper is to complement the ongoing review by Michael Walsh of Roman wrecks in UK
waters (a research partnership between Southampton University and the British Museum) and
that of the ‘Pudding Pan’ assemblage, much of which is in private collections.
Joanna Bird: Two Rare Late Samian Vessels from Southern England
This paper considers two vessels, one found at Silchester in Hampshire, the other at Flexford,
near Guildford in Surrey. Both are products of the samian workshops at Rheinzabern and
both owe their design to metal prototypes. Neither has any apparent known parallel for its
combination of form and decoration and both are a valuable reminder that even in such a
large enterprise as the samian potteries individual forms could be made, perhaps in response
to a specific request or as experiments by the potters. They also form an important
contribution to our knowledge of late samian ware in Britain and add to previous evidence for
the use of samian in ritual contexts.
Ruth Shaffrey: Intensive Milling Practices in the Romano-British Landscape of
Southern England: Using Newly Established Criteria for Distinguishing Millstones
from Rotary Querns
This paper investigates how common intensive milling practices were in southern England
during the Romano-British period, by analysing the distribution of millstones, based on an
extensive corpus of almost 4,500 querns and millstones compiled by the author. In order to do
this, it was necessary to establish criteria for distinguishing millstones from rotary querns, the
details of which are set out in an accompanying appendix; this is something which has
hitherto not been published. Using the guidelines thereby defined, the distribution of
millstones is considered and described by stone type. The resulting data are then used to
discuss the following key points: How frequently did mills occur? What types of mills were
in use, and when? What were those mills used for?
Magali Bailliot: Roman Magic Figurines from the Western Provinces of the Roman
Empire: An Archaeological Survey
This paper deals with magic figurines from the Western provinces of the Roman Empire
based on an inventory of twelve figurines and their archaeological context. It underlines the
place of the figurines in the ritual of defixio and demonstrates that complex curse rituals such
as those described in the Greek Magical Papyri (GMP) were not performed only in the
Mediterranean basin. It also notes that these magic Western figurines are often found in
important places (such as cities and large villas) and in late contexts.
Matthew G. Fittock: Broken Deities: The Pipe-Clay Figurines from Roman London
Pipe-clay figurines are an important but under-examined category of Roman material culture
in Britain. This paper presents the first typological catalogue of the 168 deity, animal and
human figures imported to Roman London from Gaul during the first and second centuries
A.D.
As in many other collections Venus figurines are the most common type, although there
is considerable diversity in form. Comparison with continental collections highlights
distinctive patterns of consumption between London, the rest of Britain and Gaul, with the
city displaying relatively high numbers of exotic/unusual types, as appears to be typical of
Londinium in general. The spatial distribution of the figurines is mapped across the
settlement, while their contexts and social distribution on habitation, trade and religious sites
throughout the city are explored. Whole specimens from burials and subtle patterns of
fragmentation also provide a direct insight into the religious beliefs and symbolic practices of
the people of Roman London.
Adam Parker: The Fist-and-Phallus Pendants from Roman Catterick
A collection of six fist-and-phallus amulets from excavations at Catterick, North Yorks., is
here reconsidered alongside their unique context. The group consists of five amulets from a
single infant inhumation and a sixth found separate from the rest. All exhibit features
defining them as a clear group of objects; they are all curved with a phallus and a fist making
the manus fica joined in the centre by a scallop shell. There are three left-handed and three
right-handed fists. The traditional interpretation of fist-and-phallus type amulets relates to
military ideas of strength and virility, but in the context provided by this small group it is
clear that their apotropaic function should be given additional credence. No other context in
Roman Britain directly associates the fist-and-phallus type and infant inhumation.
Miles Russell and Harry Manley: Trajan Places: Establishing Identity and Context for
the Bosham and Hawkshaw Heads
Two damaged, weathered marble portraits, both discovered in the 1780s at opposite ends of Roman
Britain, one at Bosham in West Sussex the other at Hawkshaw in Peeblesshire, are here re-examined
and identified as portraits of the emperor Trajan. The Bosham head is interpreted as a post-mortem
image of the deified Trajan set up at the margins of Chichester harbour, probably during the visit to
Britain by the emperor Hadrian in the early A.D. 120s. The Hawkshaw portrait of Trajan appears to
have been refashioned from a likeness of Domitian and may originally have been part of a monument
created to celebrate and commemorate the total conquest of Britain, in the early A.D. 80s, which was
decapitated and buried during a period of unrest on the northern frontier.
Martin Millett and Rebecca Gowland: Infant and Child Burial Rites in Roman Britain:
A Study from East Yorkshire
The discovery of infant burials on excavated domestic sites in Roman Britain is fairly
common but in the past these burials have often been dismissed as a product of
unceremonious disposal. There is a growing literature which considers the phenomenon, but
it has been dominated by debates around the suggestion that these burials provide evidence
for infanticide, with a focus on the osteological evidence for and against this hypothesis.
There has been less systematic consideration of the archaeological context of such burials. In
this paper we examine the excavated evidence of two large groups of such burials from sites
in East Yorkshire which demonstrate that the burial of neonatal infants followed a careful
age-specific funerary rite. We suggest that this conclusion further undermines the widespread
assumption that infants were disposed of without ceremony and as a result of infanticide.
Hella Eckardt, Gundula Müldner and Greg Speed: The Late Roman Field Army in
Northern Britain? Mobility, Material Culture and Multi-Isotope Analysis at
Scorton (N Yorks.)
At Hollow Banks Quarry, Scorton, located just north of Catterick, a highly unusual group of
15 late Roman burials was excavated between 1998 and 2000. The small cemetery consists of
almost exclusively male burials, dated to the fourth century. An unusually large proportion of
these individuals were buried with crossbow brooches and belt fittings, suggesting that they
may have been serving in the late Roman army or administration and may have come to
Scorton from the Continent. Multi-isotope analyses (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and strontium)
of nine sufficiently well-preserved individuals indicate that seven males, all equipped with
crossbow brooches and/or belt fittings, were not local to the Catterick area and that at least
six of them probably came from the European mainland. Dietary (carbon and nitrogen
isotope) analysis only of a tenth individual also suggests a non-local origin. Nevertheless,
evidence from artefacts, burial rite and isotope analysis is not always easily in agreement,
suggesting that cultural and social factors played an important part in the creation of funerary
identities. This paper highlights the need for multi-proxy analyses, and for the careful
contextual study of the artefacts.
Adrián Maldonado: The Early Medieval Antonine Wall
Archaeological fieldwork in the Forth-Clyde isthmus has been dominated by the World
Heritage Monument of the Antonine Wall, the Roman frontier built in the second century
A.D.
Considerably less attention has been given to the evidence for post-Roman experience of
the Wall and how it was remembered (and forgotten) in the subsequent centuries. This paper
will briefly summarise historical notices of the Antonine Wall, then consider the
archaeological and toponymic evidence for early medieval occupation. The role of the ForthClyde isthmus as a political frontier is shown to be less significant to our understanding of
this period than the evidence for mobility, memory and the contested legacy of Rome in early
medieval Scotland.
J.R.L. Allen: A Whetstone of Wealden Sandstone from the Roman Villa at Great Holts,
Farm, Boreham, Essex
Excavated in 1992–4, the villa yielded a portion of a whetstone which, on the basis of general
shape, the presence of rebated long edges and microscopic petrography in thin-section, was
with little doubt made from a sandstone in the Weald Clay Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of
the north-west Weald. It is representative of a widely recorded, major stone-based industry in
Roman Britain, with finds known to range from the Channel coast to the northern frontier
zone.
Joanna Bacon and Nina Crummy: Bone- and Antler-Working at Silchester: Evidence
from Early Excavations
Craft debris and finished artefacts in Reading Museum’s Silchester Collection are used
alongside current understanding of Romano-British urban intensive carcass processing and
object assemblages to re-assess the evidence for bone- and antler-working in the town over
that period.
Macarena Bustamente Álvarez and Joanna Bird: Finds of Spanish Samian Ware
(Terra Sigillata Hispanica) from Britain
Two sherds of terra sigillata hispanica have now been identified from Britain, both
recognised by their distinctive decoration, while a stamped sherd may also have been made in
Spain. Further pieces for which a possible Spanish origin has been suggested are probably
East Gaulish. The difficulty of identifying the ware by fabric alone is noted and the reasons
for its presence in Britain discussed.
Jeffrey L. Davies and Toby G. Driver: Cefn-Brynich Farm: A New Claudio-Neronian
Fort in the Usk Valley, Powys, Wales
This paper describes how the reinterpretation of published coin evidence from the Portable
Antiquities Scheme, coupled with favourable conditions for cropmark formation, led to the
discovery in 2013 of a probable Claudio-Neronian fort in the upper Usk valley near Brecon.
This extends our knowledge of pre-Flavian installations further into central Wales than the
hitherto most westerly known fort at Abergavenny.
Peter Warry: A Possible Mid-Fourth-Century Altar Platform at Marcham/Frilford,
Oxfordshire
Marcham/Frilford is a large religious site with a temple, an amphitheatre and a central shrine
feature. Adjacent to the shrine is a large fourth-century structure containing a significant
deposit of coins, hobnails and bones. The absence of diffusion of the tiles from the temple
roof to the wider site suggests that it continued to function as a religious complex throughout
the Roman period; therefore the large structure is unlikely to have been a building which
would have blighted the shrine but was more probably an altar platform where rituals were
performed in conjunction with it.